Purpose Movement

We Are In a Search:

With the new release of Justin Bieber’s album Purpose there has been a public awakening toward a movement to search for the individual’s call.  I’d have to admit that the song is captivating and leaves you wanting to strive toward greater dreams, a higher calling, and a deeper meaning.  Excellence is a word that comes to my mind when I ponder upon my initial thought on the song.  It seems to have the ability to strike an emotional chord with the listeners (which is typical of any great musician and actually impacted me enough to drive me to my laptop in order to write this blog).  My Facebook feed has been bombarded with Bieber-fever and countless friends (Facebook friends to say the least) have been putting this song on repeat!  It was inevitable for me to sit down and listen to the song, and it doesn’t hurt that my wife is a loyal fan (she’s a Belieber)!

I think Bieber’s new found maturity and journey has been one that is common to our generation of adolescents whose own journey has been prolonged in comparison to the historical transition toward adulthood.  It may strike you as a bit of a surprise to say that the struggles that adolescents face — those in their late twenties who are categorized as “kids” — are connected to the lack of a clear and definitive interpretation on the essence of life.  This journey is an incredibly important odyssey for the postmodern individual.

What Are We Searching For?

Though I tip my hat off to Justin Bieber for displaying a great deal of courage, determination, and fortitude to embark on such an authentic journey (especially in front of the entire world); I can not but wonder if such an attempt is lacking in its fullness.  I see the seriousness to advocate for such a journey, but my worry is that the starting point to the purpose movement is lacking one key element — God. 

How are young Christians who enjoy artists like Justin Bieber engage in the message of the music without conforming to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:2)?  How are believers to maintain a Gospel lens in our interactions with societal norms? How are young believers to live in the world but not be of the world?

There Are Layers to Our Search:

When we engage in journeys such as the one to “find our self,” it is essential to understand that the odyssey will consist of peeling back layers in order to get to the core issue at hand.  Self actualization is hardly ever obtained by centering on the self, but rather encapsulates a gaze upon the broader aspects of life.  There is a great calming when we understand our finiteness and begin to acknowledge God’s infiniteness. 

The starting point to Scripture, which should give us a clue to where our approach should begin, is centered upon God Himself (Genesis 1:1).  Within the creation narrative we find God creating humanity in His image (Genesis 1:27).  This reality, then, conveys the notions that in order to understand the self one must understand the Person he (or she) has been made to reflect.  As image bearers of God we can only know the self when we know, or are known, by the Creator.

God is the Big Picture:

The divine purpose for man is to display the glory of God, which is reflected in the image of humanity.  The objective aim, then, is for humanity “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29 ESV) through the work and person of Jesus Christ.  Our innate thirst to desire for more is ingrained in the fact that we have been formed to reflect His infinite and eternal glory.  The quest to find divine purpose is intrinsically woven into us, and yet the fall has taken away our capacity to embrace all that God has created us for.  Through the redemptive work of Christ, we can enter into that divine purpose again and find the creative fulfillment by walking in line with Jesus Christ to reflect His perfect and holy image.  This is the essence and purpose of the created order formed within humanity. 

In this sense the pursuit to find the self is intrinsically woven into the fabric of God who is the objective standard for human life.  This objective reality grants life, wisdom, and power to pursue the definitive goal and aim — the glory of God.  In a postmodern world the bible gives clear indication of an overarching theme that God is the grounds to understand our internal longings for a divine purpose.  We are made for more because we have been made for God (Colossians 1:16). 

All the more for us to emphasize that Bieber’s claim to strive for purpose is lacking or, dare I say, empty in of itself.  Without centering our pursuit of purpose toward and in God, we will ultimately pursue in vain.  The starting point to our searching must begin outside of ourselves — namely in God. 

The Big Picture Through My Eyes:

In light of all the “objective” talk, it must be conveyed that though theoretically (and realistically) there is an overarching standard that is pressing upon our existence, we must not underestimate the reality that life is experienced through the subjective lens.  There is a beauty to the fact that God has created us as individual beings who experience, engage, and receive life through our personal encounters.  This must not be overlooked!

As image bearers of God we are created with an understanding of otherness.  In the intra-Trinitarian nature there is a distinction of persons in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Though distinct there is unity and unison in the personhood of the Godhead.  Simply put, there is an otherness that is in perfect harmony and relationship within itself.  Our interaction with one another, which is called the church, is ultimately a reflection of the Trinitarian mystery to the world. 

It is on this basis that the pursuit to find the self is connected with looking outside of oneself — namely to God and secondly to the community of saints.  The subjective perspective lends to the fact that knowing God is intrinsically link to knowing the self in relation to the Creator (John 17:3).  Yes, we are other, and in our otherness we understand our dependence upon the Source — Jesus Christ.  Our otherness helps us to take ownership of our experiences, whether good or bad, but also informs us that in God’s sovereignty “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 ESV).  The Apostle Paul on numerous occasions connected through is own personal experience, and yet those experiences were understood in light his theological understanding of who God is.

Therefore, Bieber's claim (if that is his claim — I have heard he is a believer) to pursue purpose solely for the sake of the individual has no ground to build off of.  To this point, the Christian can not engage in this movement without first incorporating a God-ward gaze.    A lack of such a gaze would render the pursuit fruitless.

Finding the Self by Finding God (or Being Found):

Justin Bieber is a world renown musician whose mark within the the industry is still being written and whose influence will be heard for years to come.  His journey and endeavors for personal growth is admirable and has given believers (at least within this blog) a steady glimpse into our search for God’s creative design for our lives.  And yet that search can not be fully embraced without a clear starting point which does not terminate upon our own personal agenda, but is cemented in who God is and what He has created us for. 

How can we look at Bieber’s movement for purpose through the Gospel lens?  How can we understand all these worldly messages through a God filtered scope?  It is by understanding that Bieber, along with many other adolescents, is searching not merely for a subjective perspective to life’s ultimate questions, but is asking the intrinsic questions that God has innately infused into the created order of life — the glory of God.  And these questions can not be answered by mere spiritualism or self-help motivational speeches, but through the work and person of Jesus Christ found in the Word of God. 

Upon finding Him, or rather being found by Him, let us not forget to blast that message on repeat.  It would be a welcomed flow into my Facebook feed.  Blessings upon your journey Justin Bieber. Blessings to you (reader) in your endeavors as well! 

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McYoung Yang is the husband to Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (7), McCoy (6), McColsen (4), and DeYoung (6 months).  He graduated from Crown College with a Youth Ministry degree and has served as a Youth Pastor in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota for over 8 years.  He is currently studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for his Masters of Divinity.  He hopes to use his training to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens.   

Have We Idolized 2nd Generation Ministries?

Acoustic Guitar:

I came to faith during a time when contemporary worship was gaining steam and hedging its mark on youth culture.  Movements such as Passion flooded our CD binders, players, and radios while every tasteful youth leader sought to learn the acoustic guitar and passionately lead their youth group to Jesus (unfortunately I fell into the former).  In the circles I ran in, Christianity had little to do with doctrine and theology, and had more to do with emotion and expression.  Chris Tomlin and David Crowder, The Newsboys and DC Talk, and Hillsongs and Jesus Culture were individuals that many of the youth groups emulated.  Effective ministry was based upon how well your band could play contemporary worship.  If for some reason your youth group did not have a band, you were out dated.  Period! 

Ministries were constructed around the notion of coming together to sing songs of praise.  This movement birthed ministries (at least thats what we thought) like Worship Nights, Battle of the Bands, Talent Shows, Special Songs, and the list goes on.  As young people we felt it our duty and obligation to find songs that would be indicative of the passion and desire we had for God.  We were tired of old hymns that seemed out of date, out of touch, out of style.  This movement was filled with devotion and fervor, and the challenge was to sustain a spiritual high in order to pursue the next spiritual high — next week’s Youth Revival. 

Do not misunderstand me, worship is a reality that God invites us into.  God calls His people into an intimate life of worship that sees His Name and fame lifted up on high.  God is a God that is for His Glory.  This reality is not being downplayed.  Worship, in of itself, is not a bad thing.  Jesus clearly states that “the Father is seeking such people to worship Him” (John 14:23 ESV, italics added).  Worship is an invitation to pursue our greatest joy in Christ Jesus.  Yet, what started out as a passion for the Gospel soon began to reek of idolatry.  Contemporary worship, at the time, no longer was the means to the end — communion with God — but became the focal point of the youth culture’s existence (at least in our circle of faith) to magnify our own talents.  

God’s Grace to Open My Eyes:

It was not until recently that I began to realize the sinfulness of my heart in idolizing contemporary worship as a functional savior for the local church.  At that time, in the early 2000s, there was a great deal of chatter amongst young people about the “fact” that the Hmong church needed to change, in particular their style of worship, in order to be relevant to the next generation.  In more or less words, “contemporary worship will save the church!”  From our perspective, the local church was out dated and out of touch with the 2nd generation Hmong who had assimilated to the American culture.  We (more like I) fell into the trap of thinking that style would save the state of the local church.  As God continued to love me and shape me I began to realize how wrong I was.  

Centrality of the Gospel:

By His grace and for the glory of His Name He lead me to see that there is no "plan B" in regards to His redemptive work.  God knows what He is doing, and it was/is His plan to make much of Christ in order to redeem, restore, and renew His church for His glory.  In His infinite wisdom “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:5 - 6 ESV, italics added).  His plan and purpose has always been Jesus.  It is the duty of the church to remain faithful to that plan through the power of the Spirit.

For this reason Paul urged the church of Ephesus to “maintain the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3 ESV).  Not create unity, but rather maintain unity.  Maintain because Christ on the cross and through the power of the resurrection has already created the unity for the church.  The centrality of the Gospel holds the community of saints together.  The Gospel is sufficient to save and sufficient to sustain the life and breath of the church.  No longer will there be a distinction between Jew and Gentile, but “you are [all] fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 ESV).  

The Gospel needs no gimmicks.  The Gospel needs no revision.  The Gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 ESV). 

Concern for Today:

In our day idolatry rears its ugly head again, and we must be aware of how the church can fall into its deceptions and lies.  Much of the talk amongst young Hmong believers is the movement for 2nd generation ministries and/or English speaking services that will restore the life of the local church (realize that I am and have been at the forefront of many of these conversations).  This is, in our current season and climate, the model and practice that will restore the hope to the lost generation.  We must be careful, then, to not place our hope in finite ideologies, least we dethrone the Gospel of its rightful place and elevate pragmatism and innovation to an ungodly sphere.  The Gospel must remain central and the main focus in the heart of the local church!

What About Understanding our Ministry Context?

Pragmatism, innovation, and technique all have their rightful place in the scheme of Gospel ministry, but we must remember that these ideologies are merely tools to usher in the central hope for humanity — the Gospel.  It cannot be overemphasized that these devices are simply means to the ultimate end — Jesus Christ.  The issue that arises in the heart of broken humanity is the bent to elevate good things to ultimate things. 

God’s decree for Israel was to “be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV, italics added).  That same decree was given to the body of saints to live in holiness (1 Peter 1:15).  This holiness is not a self derived holiness, but rather a holiness contrived by the presence of God through the Spirit.  This God empowered holiness was to be to the nations a distinction from the world in order to proclaim to the world the beauty and majesty of God.  

The church is responsible to know the context to which they minister, but comprehending the context will never supersede the power of the Gospel.  Gimmicks will never paint the Gospel in a way to be accepted in terms of publication and presentation.  If so, we have lost the Gospel altogether.  Acceptance of the Gospel is initiated by the Spirit (John 3:1 - 15; 1 Corinthians 2:6 - 16).  Again, the Gospel has no need for gimmicks or revision!  Context must be understood in the realm of observing a set people group in order to minister effectively and position oneself to communicate clearly the Gospel message.  Context, then, becomes a vehicle to carry the Gospel, not the main thrust of the ministry.

Are You Against 2nd Generation Ministries or English Services?

By no means am I against ministries longing to proclaim the Good News!  I, myself, have been apart of ministries and services that cater to the English speaking portion of our indigenous community group.  These ministries are agents for the generations to hear the beauty and majesty of the Gospel.  These ministries are instruments used by God for the expansion of the Kingdom and the salvation of the people.  

In light of this reality it is our duty as ministers to remain faithful to the Gospel which is the proclamation of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This message must remain central to the heartbeat of Gospel ministry and be hedged into the make-up and DNA in the culture of the local church.  

Conclusion:

Contemporary worship started from a heart that longed to see Jesus magnified and glorified through song.  This was/is a beautiful reality!  Yet the wayward heart will always sway from the Gospel, and it is pivotal that we evaluate our hearts to see where they are at.  This garnered my attention to think: “what else are we buying into that is hindering us from full Gospel gaze?” This blog is a shout out for accountability, a shout out to analyze the foundation of your ministry, a shout out to check the heartbeat of the ministry culture in your church, a shout out to reorient the strategy and aim of the ministry to focus in on the person of Jesus Christ.  

My fear is that we will deviate from the centrality of the Gospel and fall into a pragmatic approach in regards to local church ministries.  This in turn will lead to a dependence upon method and strategy rather than Spirit-filled regenerative power through the proclamation of the Word.  We will begin to love the idea of the community, rather than the One to whom our community is built upon.  We will begin to acknowledge our innovation, rather than admiring His faithfulness.  We will begin to elevate our ministers, rather magnifying Jesus. 

If the Gospel is not enough for us to build community and make disciples in our current church community, what makes us think that adopting a 2nd generation model or English service will do to change that?  The issue is not our model, the main issue is our heart.  Is the Gospel enough?

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McYoung Yang is the husband to Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (7), McCoy (6), McColsen (4), and DeYoung (6 months).  He graduated from Crown College with a Youth Ministry degree and has served as a Youth Pastor in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota for over 8 years.  He is currently studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for his Masters of Divinity.  He hopes to use his training to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens.   

What is Real?

Reality:

Recently Essena O’Neill, a social media celebrity, made an outcry on behalf of the unauthentic and disingenuous portrayal of her own life displayed across the internet via instragram.  The confession was rot with tears and an objection against the fraudulent display of a high profile life succumbed to glitz and glamour coated with a consumeristic bent to exploit the capitalistic tendency of our age.  The societal pressures to maintain the mantra of an A-level type lifestyle became overwhelmingly difficult and unsatisfyingly dull to say the least.  My heart goes out to her as she battles through this identity-stricken season of life and commend her for acting upon her convictions to seek out truth and to become aware of her imperfections and blemishes.  I am not sure if she is a Christ-follower, but my prayer and hope is that she would, by the power of the Holy Spirit, find her way to true satisfaction in Christ. 

And yet this reality appeals to the Christian lifestyle that has, to a certain degree, assimilated itself to the consumeristic pattern of this world.  Many young believers (and old for that fact) have attributed this type of “success” to the spiritual progress of being an authentic Christ-follower.   There has been in recent years an over-glamorization, or what I like to call Hollywoodization, of spiritual growth.  The church seems to have fallen into what the first century would have called gnostic elitism.  This is a false sense of spirituality that cripples the church and does not allow the saints to see sanctity as a process, but rather as a club or fraternity for gifted individuals.  This broken lens into the self glamorizes the individual and pushes the redemptive work of Christ to the margins.  This ideology elevates the individual through a false facade and alludes the true nature of being a Christ-follower — surrender. 

Renewing the Mind:

I have had the privilege of working with young people for the last 10 years in student ministry and have found that many walk away from the faith because of their misunderstanding of sanctification, or rather their journey with Christ.  Many attend youth conferences like HLUB or SALT and become infatuated with the work and person of Christ, and yet when reality hits them 3 weeks later they find themselves unable to come to grips with the true notion of their self.  Their presupposition on the Christian walk is skewed due to biblical illiteracy and conformity to the societal norms, and they begin to place the yoke of the law back onto their shoulders.  What they have bought into is not the Gospel, but rather Hollywood’s gospel.  

What I hope to accomplish in this blog is to establish helpful truths rooted in Scripture that can assist the church to walk with people through the mundane journey called the Christian life.  Hopefully I have been able to deconstruct the false notion of the spiritual life, and will attempt to reconstruct a Gospel lens on sanctity.  This is what I like to called the grind.  This grind consist of two simple truths: the Christian life is meant to happen within the ordinary mundane things of life and the cross is not merely initiatory, but the sustaining source of the Christian life.

Spirit-filled Daily Living:

I think its extremely important to understand that whenever Paul gives the church an imperative, or command, it is intrinsically connected to the truth of the Gospel.  “The Law of Christ,” as the Apostle Paul would call them, is never given as a blanket statements to follow, but are statutes interwoven into the character of Christ.  And if we are “to be conformed to the image of His Son,” (Romans 8:29) then these commandments are to be imitated in reflecting His character, traits, and attitudes. 

Therefore, when the Spirit is sealed in us as the guarantee of our inheritance of God’s Kingdom (Ephesians 1:13 - 14), we are given the fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22 - 23).  Yet one thing to notice about these character traits is that they are meant to function within community.  One can not be patient alone, or one can not express kindness by oneself.  Furthermore, sanctity is a process that is endured through community that sharpens our gaze not upon the self, but rather on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sanctity takes time by living life on life through our ordinary daily routines and experiencing progress by His grace. 

For this reason the Apostle Paul commends the church to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) and that filling is played out in the daily exchanges of wives submitting to husbands (Ephesians 5:22), husbands loving their wives (Ephesians 5:25), children obeying their parents (Ephesians 6:1), parents not provoking their children to anger (Ephesians 6:4), and slaves and masters exhibiting mutual honor (Ephesians 6:5 - 9).  There are other areas in Scripture where the saints are commended to bear “with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive” (Colossians 3:13).  Through these interactions the saints begin to engage in opportunities to sharpen themselves in Christ-likeness through the power of the Spirit and model a life for the glory of God.

This exchange of growth within community is hardly epic nor is it dramatic for a lack of a better word.  It is simply within the framework of life that growth occurs and sanctity finds its beauty.  Do not beat yourself up for not having an action packed fast paced life.  Social media has clouded our minds to think that progress is equated with theatrical "booms" and "awes."  Biblical growth, for the most part, is steady with a consistent pace (now granted there are season of great growth).

The Gospel is the Beginning and End of Life:

I am assured that throughout all these communal endeavors there will be individuals who annoy you and ones who you downright seek to avoid.  The bible does not paint a picture of reality that is based upon facades, but meets you where you are at in all the uncomfortable interactions of life.  And yet you can anticipate a great deal of failure in the midst of the Christian walk.  Though we are saved and created new, we still remain in a broken and fallen world, and the beauty of the Gospel is that He meets us there and does not allow those failures to define us.  The cross is not a place where we merely enter into God’s Kingdom, the cross is where the life of the Kingdom begins and is sustained. 

Therefore, the bible extends that we would “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).  Martin Luther understood this reality well when he conveyed “the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  This means that the Christian grind is cementing oneself at the foot of the cross and living life through the grace and mercy of Jesus.  And in doing that we do not merely hoard God’s mercy, but rather extend God’s grace to others because we have been extended grace by the Creator.  There will be failures and obstacle, but nothing that will hinder us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:31 - 39).  Growth is accumulated in small steps but His grace is sufficient in making sure that progress is continuous if we humbly come to the cross and dwell, because the cross reminds us that in our interactions with other (others who definitely annoy us) we have a power source of grace to extend mercy where we normally would not. 

When we begin to realize that the love of God was not achieved by our meriting it, but rather “in love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5) we can be set free from trying to earn salvation and be set free to live in salvation through grace.  Meaning regardless of our filth, stitch, and corruption He set His affections on us.  God chose to love us.  Not because we are amazing, but because in His nature “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Therefore, we can run to Him when we slip up.  When we drop the ball.  When we burst out at our children.  We can run to Him and the cross is ever present to restore us and guide us by grace to heal and reconcile those pieces within us that are broken and the individuals to whom we have wronged.  Progress is setting our gaze at "the founder and perfecter of our faith," (Hebrews 12:2) and walking with Him through the hurt to find healing and restoration.  And knowing that our hurts and pains are never wasted because He "comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction" (2 Corinthians 1:4).

God is Our Reality:

Living in a day and age where one’s identity is rooted in all the achievements, accolades, and degrees that can be mustered up, our God — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — is not impressed with such titles.  He longs for a people that will “humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).  Sanctity is a slow and tedious process, and yet He remains ever faithful to renew His people in the knowledge to the image of the Creator (Colossians 3:10). 

We can buy into social media, but that too will fade.  The only eternal being that is faithful from beginning to end is God Himself.  Let us trust His means and rely on His process to do in us what we can not do for ourselves.  Let us throw away the ways of the world and let us walk in the newness of God in Christ Jesus.  The process may be slow and mundane, but the end result is 100% pure.